Committee to Protect Journalists calls defamation suit against NDTV an attack on press freedom
New Delhi, Oct 20: The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday condemned the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Group’s defamation case against NDTV, asking it to end its excessive use of civil defamation cases against critical news outlets. In a statement on Thursday, the news channel had said that Ambani’s group has sued it for Rs 10,000 crore over its coverage of the Rafale jet deal.
The defamation lawsuit was filed after an episode of NDTV’s weekly show Truth vs Hype that aired on September 29. The matter has been listed for hearing on October 26.
NDTV denied the charges and said it will argue in court that they are “a heavy-handed attempt by Anil Ambani’s group to suppress the facts and prevent the media from doing its job – asking questions about a defence deal and seeking answers that are very much in public interest”.
“The ridiculously massive civil defamation claim Reliance Group has made against NDTV amounts to a severe attack on press freedom in India,” Committee to Protect Journalists’ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler said on Friday. “India’s judiciary must ensure that powerful business groups cannot abuse the country’s legal system to silence critics.”
The United States-based non-governmental organisation pointed out that the Reliance Group had repeatedly ignored NDTV’s requests to participate in the show or submit a written response. The panel also said that the Reliance Group had filed a defamation suit for Rs 5,000 crore against Congress mouthpiece National Herald.
The Committee to Protect Journalists added that a spokesperson for the Reliance Group refused to respond to its request for comment.
Courtesy: scroll.in
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
